According to the Florida Department of Corrections, 24-year-old Levar D. Murray, of Tarpon Springs, ran away from his housing unit at the facility at 566 Brady Road around 1:35 p.m. as a corrections officers prepared to search him and his property.

Corrections officials called the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office to assist in the search and did an "emergency master roster count," said DOC spokeswoman Jo Ellyn Rackleff.

During that head count, officials found that 30-year-old Ronald Williams was also missing.

Williams, whose last known address was in Tampa, was not the first in his family to escape from incarceration.

His twin brother, Donald Williams, escaped in April from a work-release facility in St. Petersburg and has not been caught, according to Department of Corrections records.

Both Murray and Williams were almost finished serving their sentences — Murray served nearly four years in prison and Williams, nearly three years.

That's why the two had been moved to the Tarpon Springs Work Release Center, a medium-security facility that teaches inmates nearing the end of their sentences job skills so they are better equipped to return to society.

The men may now face several more years in prison for escaping, officials said.

Neither Murray nor Williams was working at the Tarpon Springs facility, at 566 Brady Road, at the time of their escape, officials said.

Williams had been doing time on cocaine charges, and Murray on heroin and cocaine charges.